Despite having been an avid reader for most of my life, it has only been recently that I've joined a formal book club.  Last year, I was talking with one of my closest friends, who is also a bibliophile, and she mentioned she would like to form a book club. So we each invited a few friends, picked a book to read, and met at a brewery on Main Street. We read a book called Big Stone Gap  by Adriana Trigiani. It's based on the real town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, which isn't to

I’ve always prided myself on being a safe driver. The only time I’d gotten into a car accident was when I had my learner’s permit. I backed Nana’s Grand Marquee into something in her garage and busted out one of the taillights. With some elbow grease and a few hours on a Saturday afternoon, it was as good as new. No one was more surprised than I when my 2002 Honda Civic, Florence, was sideswiped by an 18-wheeler on US-29 South in Danville, barely an hour into a five-hour road

Since early in our marriage, my husband and I considered getting a dog, but we couldn’t agree on what kind we wanted. My husband has a soft spot for Golden Retrievers, but I prefer German Shepherds. In the spring of 2021, I learned that a friend of my sister-in-law was expecting a litter of Golden Shepherd puppies—the mother dog was a Golden Retriever, and the father was a German Shepherd. A mix between the two seemed like the ideal compromise.  Unfortunately, our living situ

I’m tired of people saying Lynchburg is boring.  Just in the past month, I’ve enjoyed an excellent community theater production of Newsies; a concert from the Vitamin String Quartet; a fall festival with two corn mazes, a tractor ride, and a pumpkin patch; rave bingo; a hike through rolling hills and pastoral views; and an excellent meal at an authentic Peruvian restaurant. And these are just the highlights.  No matter where you live, there is joy and excitement to be found.

Every single day, my husband eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. He assembles it the night before and packs it in his...